Everyday in Detroit is amazing and every different from my days at Duke. Let me document a typical day working at TechTown. Typically, I work at TechTown, a nonprofit organization focusing on small businesses, from Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. . Every morning, I walk to TechTown with Ying, Peter and Ta’Chelle. The walking is usually full of laughing and smiles, and this is the best way to start a new day.

When we arrive at TechTown, a very important task then is finding an ideal working place for the day. Since the working environment of TechTown is very flexible, people usually do not have a fixed working place. I can choose any tables, chairs and sofas as long as it makes me working productively, and this is on of my favorite parts of TechTown. Co-working space is good place to meet people, and the cubby is my favorite because such a cozy and private room can keep distractions away. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, Ying and I have a meeting with Derrin, our supervisor and placement manager of SWOT Team of TechTown.

Usually, Ying and I go to neighborhoods to conduct a survey of commercial real estates. And sometimes, we attend some great meetings with community partners. At noon, Peter, Ying and I will go to Henry Ford Hospital Cafeteria to have a lunch. During this work break, we usually talk about the work in the morning and Peter Story of the Day (The high of the day…lol) At 5, we walk back to Wayne State together, and Ying and I will cook for the dinner. Cooking is a relaxation for me, and eating the dinner I cooked is a reward of the day!

Much like Walter Mitty, I want to make my life extraordinary, and it starts with each and every day. A normal day in the life consists of jumping out of bed with enough force to stop a bull gorilla’s charge. Obviously, thoughts of the coming day have once again revitalized me. Another day to fall in love, and live an entire life in the span of a few heartbeats. Now, I know what you are probably thinking at this point, is this a realistic account of someone on a DukeEngage program. I have a question to your question. Would you not want your DukeEngage participant to be excited about his job and work enough to narrate his life in such a manner? Good. I am glad we have gotten that out of the way. Upon completing the morning rituals, I make my way by the same route to the Green Garage. I generally get stopped by 3 or 4 people who like to comment on the bounce in my step, and the twinkle in my eye. They ask how I do it, I ask how they don’t. I continue on my way, and eventually run into the homeless man on Warren. We do our special handshake which consists of me passing him a folded $1 bill as he comments on the fact that I must have been an OG in a past lifetime. For those of you that don’t know OG stands for “Old Gangster”. After a momentous trek, that I liken to hiking the Inca Trail that leads to Machu Picchu because of its unconquerable highs and lows and extremes in beauty, I finally make my way into the Green Garage. Now this is probably the most misleading part of my day. The Green Garage is neither Green nor is it a Garage as the name would suggest. Instead it is a wonderland of about 50 companies all working in this space with some collaboration to create a better world around us. The obvious comparison is to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, but instead I think it reminds me more of the rebel base on Hoth. These are fighters battling for a better world and place, one where the Galactic Empire has not yet strangled the common people. It is a beautiful fight, one that I am grateful to be a part of each and every day. At this point, I begin some work on Small Batch, the company that me and my fearless compatriot Brianna have been working on. This part of my day, while it consists mostly of excel spreadsheets and research drags me into a jungle where every decision is life or death. The green of the excel icon mesmerizes me as I picture Brianna and I with our machetes trying desperately to chop ourselves through this dense undergrowth to find the golden city of the Incas in the middle of this jungle. No, it is not the golden city we are looking for, monetary wealth doesn’t even give us pause, I believe we are more like scientists attempting to find the cure for cancer in this overwhelming and pressing heat. Heat that sticks to you and clings to you and tries to draw you down whispering in your ear that sleep is what you really need. We know better, this isn’t just a fight for us, it is a fight for the greater good. We grab our canteens and splash water on our faces to stave off any weariness. There is no time to falter. Without warning we realize that our rations are running low, we have been hacking and chopping and pushing forward for hours without break or rest. Our bodies need nutrients. Luckily, some other brave entrepreneur decided to open up a burrito joint in the middle of this jungle! Pushing past anacondas and wadding through schools of piranha, we make it into the relative safety of Alley Taco. With a short 15-minute break to revitalize, we once again head back out into the jungle. Monday’s, however, are notoriously short in the jungles of yesteryear. We haven’t found the cure yet, but it will have to wait for another day. With a low humming, the arrival of a plane is announced. Its Rhyn! Rhyn drops a line down from the plane and Brianna and I grab it and try and swing up into the plane. Of course, at this point we are running over the backs of a couple of crocodiles in order to make it, but the last croc rears up and attempts to bite my leg off! With a quick prayer to Vishnu for guidance and Ganesh the destroyer of obstacles, my body finds the strength to throw myself out of harms way and into the belly of the plane. The trials and tribulations of the jungle are left behind as we head to the newest adventure, one relatively tame for many, but even more difficult for me; cooking. The church we arrive at is no Sagrada Família, but the work done in it can be counted as even more important. This is where for four hours, every Monday, my blood, sweat, and tears are used to create the next round of Mitten Bites. (Disclaimer: No blood, sweat, or tears are actually used in the creation of Mitten Bites). Strong of arm, and quick of mind, the task of scooping the Mitten Bites into their proper shape and form falls upon me. It is back-breaking work, yet the rewards are real. As I scoop and pull and push and pry and placate, inevitably the chocolate becomes warm and starts to liquefy. This is a dangerous position to be in. As the chocolate liquefies my fears become ever more real when SUDDENLY THE CHOCOLATE SPRAYS OUT AND HITS ME RIGHT IN THE FACE. Blinded by the warm chocolate spray that has begun to drip down my face I must find reprieve. Can I wipe the chocolate off? NO! I am in a commercial kitchen and there are certain rules and regulations that guide my every action and my every movement. Moving faster than the speed of sound I rip my gloves off and toss them in the trash before barreling my way to the sink to wash my hands. I then proceed with the delicacy of delivering a newborn baby to wipe the sweet chocolate sauce from my face. My co-workers are entranced, they have never seen something so beautiful and so stimulating as me wiping chocolate from my eyes. There is no time to spare though. I quickly rewash my hands, and grab a new pair of gloves from the box before dashing back to my work station. I check my nonexistent watch, .347 of a second. Drats, .003 seconds slower than the previous Monday. A slight hiccup in an otherwise productive day. I know what must be done. I call out to Brianna across the table, “Brianna, hit it!” The sweet soothing melodies of DMX start to pump out from the speakers. I close my eyes and return to the focus and determination that I harbored before. At this late hour it is harder to reach for but in my mind I am spanning galaxies and black holes, divides larger than life itself before I find what I am looking for, the familiar obsidian like determination that rests in the back of my head… Wait. What is that. Out of the corner of my mind’s eye I see it; distraction. Her hair was the color of a late summer afternoon. It was if the sun had picked daffodils and sunflowers and woven them into a crown to place on her head. The brilliance of the flowers and sun mixed with the darker dappled light given from rays partially obscured by trees. It spoke of summer days when all cares can be left for the wind, and the body becomes cleansed by each pool of light. What it was, was warmth. No the memories and distractions are getting stronger! My mind weary from the day is starting to fail me. The clock is approaching 7pm and my strength is failing me. She walks with the sun in her hair and a smile that steals the hearts from anyone not quick enough to look away, a practiced smile and nothing more. The beauty is in what is held behind the smile. It is found in all the swirling doubts that run through her mind as she walks the path she has chosen. Everyone can appreciate the smile painted on the lips of a pretty girl, but the real beauty is in the reason for the smile. It can be found in her eyes. I must resist against the intrusions of an ever-whirling mind. I have to find that black obsidian rock that will guide me through the rest of the day. I latch on, I think of the work I am doing. I think of the kids, the kids who are being helped by this program. One finger length at a time I scratch and pull and drag myself back into reality. I glance at my still nonexistent watch, it has been .009 seconds since my mind began wandering. Time that I have to make up. I look at Brianna in the eye and she knows what song to play. Half Naked and Almost Famous starts to thump and my concentration is restored. With renewed vigor I attack the unintelligible mass that is unmade Mitten Bites. With one final mighty scoop, I finish the bowl. Falling backwards I collapse on the floor exhausted. The next couple of minutes become a blur of cleaning and before I know it I am back on the plane. My eyes start to droop, but I have no fear, I trust in Rhyn’s abilities. Stumbling into the spacious Wayne State Manor’s rooms (read: small dorm room) I collapse on my bed and wait for the sweet release of sleep to cradle my weary body and mind and rock me to sleep, when suddenly my phone buzzes. Do I want to go on the Dancing Queen, Detroit’s premier riverboat? It looks like it’s on to the next adventure for Kiran Morgan “Laughs in the Face of Danger” “The Show” Llewellyn Jones. Until next time, keep your inhibitions low, and your sense of adventure high.

Everyday is crazy, but today is Thursday and that means I'm at the Green Garage. First though, I head to STEMpowered, a week long day camp for young girls interested in STEM who live in Detroit. I see Susan, the woman I met at the Eastern market who told me about STEM. And there is her daughter, Erika, who directs the program and is studying food science at Wayne State University. We start the day with a warm up and start doing experiments. I've never seen young girls so excited. Or perhaps I just forgot what it was like to be 10. I head out after lunch to go to my actual job here in Detroit, but not before I get hugs from the girls. Everyday that I leave the thought of becoming a teacher becomes more and more real to me.

Now I'm at the Green Garage. It's coffee time! There's Gina, another intern for Detroit Food Academy from University of Michigan. We chat for a bit about the DFA kids, our weekends, and our plans for our junior years. It's not a nice day so I have to sit inside today, but I notice the weekly sustainable workshop going on, led by Tom Brennan, a co-founder of the Green Garage.

What's my work for today? Oh right, fix the survey. I look over the one response I got from the squad leaders of DFA's summer program and it's clear there are holes in my formatting. What good is feedback if I don't know what the feedback is for? Later in the day Jen heads over. It's about 3 now and Jen has been at the Horatio Williams Foundation working with the DFA students. We chat for a bit. She asks me about STEMpowered and I gush over the kids for 10 whole minutes. I'm so glad she was okay with me helping out there for a few hours even though it cut into my time with food academy, but as a businesswoman, Jen knows how important it is to encourage young girls to be leaders.

I head out at 5 and say my goodbyes to the Green garagers. Enrichment is at 7. We're heading to the social club, a barbershop that recycles the hair cut to plant trees. When I get there I only see Emily, the director of programs for DukeEngage. She's in town visiting the Detroit cohort for a few days. As we're talking an MBA student from Babson joins in. He's a part of a program started by Harvard grads called 'MBAs across America'.

The event is starting now and innovators and entrepreneurs across the city are in chairs now talking about their work and getting their hair cut. These people are amazing. The impact investor Jamie particularly interests me because I saw him about 5 weeks ago at another enrichment and so I decide to ask him a question. "Is it just as important as an entrepreneur to know who you're servicing as having experience in your industry?" The night ends about an hour and a half later and we head upstairs for a birthday celebration for our site coordinator, Katherine!

Here are a few snapshots of a typical day at TechTown for me. Hope you enjoy them.

A cordial meeting with Ronald Butler of LithSafe and Kelly Jezierski of NextEnergy. I'm currently working with Ron on the product side of his business. This is where the cutting edge of renewable energy storage happens. Don't let the disarming smiles throw you off.

Lunch at the Henry Ford Hospital. What is Jimmy looking at? More importantly, what is that expression on Ying's face? Maybe one day, I'll actually be able to tell discern concern from curiosity...or are they the same thing in this case?

Meet Magic Mike from Manulith, a 3D Printing company operating from TechTown's co-working space. Here he is pictured with two of his favorite creations. A true Pygmalion with his Galateas!

Thanks for following on with me on this incredible journey. You can reach me at peter.shi@duke.edu for feedback on lighting, content, or if you just want to grab a drink. Hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into some of the colorful people I've had the pleasure of getting to know during my time at TechTown!

A casual day for me in Detroit would involve walking to TechTown every day. During my walk, I head towards this landmark. This landmark is known as the Fisher building. The Fisher building was built by the Fisher brothers and opened in 1928. The building is located at Second Avenue and Grand Boulevard. The inside of the Fisher building is covered in marble, bronze and mosaics. The building holds a theater and many shops. Once I arrive to TechTown, I usually sit in the co-working space or one of the smaller working cubbies. After I am settled, I go to the fridge to see if there is any orange juice left over. During the day, I usually run into Derrin and we briefly discuss upcoming plans for the week. Derrin is a managing director at TechTown. His job primarily focuses on managing the SWOT program, overseeing mentorship with businesses and proposing new ideas to build enterprises within the communities of Detroit. The time spent at TechTown during the day is dedicated to completing the work that was not finished from the day before. This work could include new projects that have been assigned as well. TechTown usually has some event going on. The DTX program at TechTown always invites in professional speakers to help with the program and provide business advice. Isaac, the planning director at TechTown, arranges for different catering companies to come into the kitchen and serve lunch. I usually go to the kitchen to check out which catering company came for the day and what they are offering. The days at TechTown are generally routine unless the group takes a field trip into one of the neighborhoods that TechTown is currently working with. Once the day is over, I head back to Wayne State! While I’m on Wayne State’s campus, I walk around and look for a place to get dinner. If it is one of the days that we have an enrichment program, then I return to my room and prepare for the activities later.

http://www.dukeengagedetroit.org/detroit-news/dukes-nick-prys-on-detroitThough it may require swallowing our pride, sometimes coming home is the best feeling in the world. Just ask LeBron James about his return to Cleveland. As a native of Cleveland’s suburbs myself, I’ve forgiven LeBron’s mistakes and embraced his homecoming - truly a homecoming for the ages. Speaking about coming home, the beauty of home is that it is unique to every person. For me, it means a collection of little things, including hearing the sound of my mother cooking dinner and and the laughter of my little sister. For LeBron, it may mean hearing the supportive chants of millions of basketball fans. Like LeBron, Nick Prys also knows about staying true to his home. A 2014 Duke graduate and native Detroiter, Nick Prys submitted a winning video for Challenge Detroit – a yearlong program that enables participants to tackle some of the city’s toughest challenges, from restoring abandoned buildings to improving the public school system. Along with some friends, he’s working on a startup called Clove, a grocery vending service that will cut out supermarkets as the middleman and improve food consumption efficiency. When I revisited the Detroit News link, I realized that this was the same Nick that I had met last Friday at a local entrepreneurial mixer at TechTown. Rocking a plaid shirt and cleanly cropped facial hair, Nick spoke to me with a slow, measured voice about his experiences growing up in the city. He told me about how he had taken his friends to see the abandoned Packard Plant, and how he’d be willing to take me there before I leave. He’s one of those rare individuals that I could be real with from the start. In the video, Nick Prys explains his deep roots to Detroit and why he's willing to stay and work in his hometown after graduation. His video reminds me of the line in the song Pompeii by Bastille, which goes, "Oh, where do we begin? The rumble or our sins?" In other words, what should changemakers focus on to revitalize Detroit- the physical ruins of abandoned structures, or the systemic corruption and failed policies of the last five decades? Beautiful montages of the city, featuring highlights such as Downtown street art and the vibrant restaurants of Greektown and Corktown, are spliced with shots of Nick riding his bike through barren lots and storefronts. Set to a nostalgic rock ballad, he almost convinces me to stay in Detroit. Almost. Similar to the LeBron Situation, I both applaud his loyalty and wonder why he would choose to stay in Detroit. Just one glance at current media coverage can repel the bravest tourists from traversing the treacherous paths of Gratiot Street and 8 Mile Road – the same 8 Mile of Eminem/Slim Shady/Marshall Mathers infamy. And as Nick mentions himself, why would people choose to live in Detroit, a city that provokes pity and apathy rather than awe, over LA, New York, or Boston? Sure, there is innovation and creative energy. Sure, there’s hope and a collective sense of ownership among the city’s people. Whether we see this energy and community drive sustainable change is entirely another question.

The first time I watched Nick Prys’ video (shout out to Kiran for sharing it with us), I was inspired. The second time, I did a slow clap in my head. The third time, I felt a mixture of disbelief and respect. When I watched the video a fourth time a few minutes ago, my response was more measured and critical – Nick made a video of the highlights of the city, like how Facebook shows the highlights of our lives, while it brushes past some of the city’s more serious issues – broken infrastructure, blight, poverty, and violent crime, to name a few.

Detroit, from its heyday in the 1950s to its present state, can be summarized with this line from Pompeii: "Many days fell away with nothing to show, and the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we love." As more and more people fled to city for the outlying suburbs, Detroit became a vestige of its former self. So as Bastille later sings, and I echo, "How am I going to be an optimist about this?" Nick largely relies on emotion rather than reason to make his points, which may be an effective way to make an inspiring video, but not enough to persuade policymakers and dangerous in the long run. For every Edison District and Cass Creative Corridor, there are dozens of broken houses, broken homes, and homes being broken into. Such problems cannot not fixed by only young entrepreneurs, and require support from local government and the black majority population.

Will Detroit remain in the ashes or will it soar like the legend of the phoenix? Every end has a beginning, and only time will tell if Detroit gets lucky. So as I travel to the Packard Plant with Nick later this week, I’ll have to remind myself that he considers all of Detroit, including its forgotten rubble, to be part of his home, and that is a beautiful thing indeed.

http://www.uixdetroit.com/features/thequestioneverycityshouldask.aspx I read an article this week titled “Opportunity for All: The Question Every City Should Ask, And Answer” The question that opens the article asks how cities can connect all residents to economic opportunity. In the article urban innovators in Detroit all give their opinion on how to connect residents to economic opportunity. I appreciate this question because often times when cities are revitalized, the positive changes don’t directly help all residents. The answers that stood out to me the most were “opportunity through resident engagement” and “opportunity through effective communication”. The first innovator, Delphia Simmons of Thrive Detroit, emphasizes relevant opportunity and engagement with residents. She believes in asking questions to get the best idea of what is best for residents. What do they need? How far can they go with certain opportunities? The other innovator Wayne Ramocan of Osborn Neighborhood Alliance, stresses the importance of access to information. The alliance that he serves with makes information such as news and resident profiles accessible to all Osborn residents. I agree that communication is an effective way to provide opportunities for all because there is nothing worse than making no impact on your community because no one knows what’s going on or has stake in other residents. These two responses stood out the most to me because they emphasize self-efficacy. That is, they believe there is power in inclusivity. I think it is really important when talking about opportunity to think of opportunity as a chance rather than a gift. When people start to think they are giving gifts to people by creating opportunity they are missing the point. The aim is to create chances and in order to give someone a chance you need to make the opportunities you are creating accessible to your audience. I have my worries about Detroit. And that is that innovators in the city, especially who are not from Detroit, have this “do-gooder” attitude. I think innovators should steer clear of the mentality that they’re doing anyone a favor. In fact, I think innovators should put themselves as much in the background as possible. If your aim is to save the city then you are a part of the problem. Innovative solutions ultimately lead to sustainable systems that can exist without the initial creator. I agree with these two responses because they don’t mention themselves once. They talk about the residents and creating solutions based off of what people want. Ultimately, if anyone is going to change Detroit for the better, I think it will be Detroit.

Gentrification, Hipsterfication, and Yuppies Renaissance Just drive northward down Gratiot Avenue through the sprawling metropolis, and you’ll see what I am talking about. Let’s start from Compuware’s corporate garage just steps away from the heart of downtown Detroit. You’ll pass through several high rises (most of which either owned by, or leased out to Mr. Gilbert and his Quicken Empire), numerous high-end restaurants and bars, a handful of young professionals chugging their morning Starbucks on their way to work, and an ominous gray citadel – the Wayne County Jail project – now locked in limbo after years of political incompetence and hundreds of millions of dollars wasted. Let’s keep driving. The buildings will gradually grow lower and lower, and you’ll notice there are fewer people on the streets. And of the people on the streets, significantly more of them are black. Let’s cross the Chrysler Freeway and continue north. Numerous old storefronts dot the now relatively empty sidewalks. Many of them are well maintained but are no longer in business. Then, some liquor stores, some auto repair shops, some barbershops. Just around the corner, you’ll see some back-to-nature blocks that used to be residential lots but are now demolished by the Detroit Blight Removal Task Force. Red light. You’ll hear someone blasting Trick Trick’s “Welcome 2 Detroit” from his beaten up car stereo, windows rolled down. Wait, what happened to the high rises, vibrant urban landscape, and young professionals? You don’t have to live in Detroit to realize the unevenness of Detroit’s sprawling metropolis. Nowadays, there is so much buzz around Detroit’s urban revitalization. Bustling coffee shops, bakeries, boutiques are opening their doors in the Midtown area; high-end technology startups and international corporations are moving their offices into Dan Gilbert’s newly renovated office spaces, attracting thousands of young millennials into what used to be desolate streets and empty skyscrapers. These young professionals – commonly known as hipsters – are bringing with them an unprecedented sense of energy and creativity, stirring up Detroit with innovative solutions while helping to strengthen the city’s tax base, which will in turn support essential services such as police, fire stations, and façade improvements. But we cannot conclude here. As Ashley Woods reminds us, Detroit doesn’t need hipsters to survive, it needs it black people. I cannot agree more with her point, because the success of any city rests on improving its public infrastructure – such as public school systems and public transportation – that will raise its working class population. With a population that is 83% African American, most of whom live in Detroit’s neighborhoods, trickle-down urbanization will not work. However, the heart of the conversation should not be a debate about whether or not gentrification is occurring, or reducing individuals by labeling them as this and that, but be about how we can collaboratively work together to address the complexity of the problem we all face as residents of this city. We need to dive deeper to find the solution. I am not saying it is not important to recognize our differences and the exclusiveness of Detroit’s reinvention, but I want to shift the weight of the conversation towards a discussion of how we can use these differences to our advantage, because in the heart of all differences we experience is an undisputable commonality: we share this space because we have an unwavering faith in the city we live in. Let’s imagine: what if the Detroit City Government, Detroit Public School Systems, top real estate firms, and nonprofit institutions collaborated together to renovate abandoned city schools into office spaces for local businesses? What if technology firms collaborated with nonprofits, community development corporations, and small businesses to map out key locations for commercial development across the City of Detroit to facilitate new businesses moving into Detroit? So, let’s direct our energy into brainstorming ways we can work together instead of focusing on the things that separate us apart.

http://www.uixdetroit.com/features/thequestioneverycityshouldask.aspx“OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL: THE QUESTION EVERY CITY SHOULD ASK, AND ANSWER” is a very inspiring article, and gives me some insights of the issue of equity. The article raises one crucial question: how can cities better connect all residents to economic opportunity? This question strikes me, and I think Detroit need to give an answer to this question. People say Detroit is a city rising from the ashes, but I think this statement is little inappropriate. From my observation, only areas surrounding downtown are rising, but the rest of Detroit is still in the ashes. The imbalance of economic development in Detroit is heartbreaking, and the most disappointing part is exclusion in Detroit is becoming more and more intensified. When I was interviewing Regina, the SWOT city portfolio manager of TechTown, she said she is from Osborn, a relatively underdeveloped neighborhood in Detroit, and fifteen years ago when she went to high school in downtown area, she felt inclusive. However, now when her children go to school in downtown area, they feel they do not belong to there. That is sad, and pushes me to start thinking what is the key of equity, and how to achieve equity. The article gives some answers. I strongly agree with the discussion about “small” and “all” in the article. Equity is a big, and eternal issue. Thousands of years, we seldom have a good solution to the problem. One of the possible reasons I think is all the solutions we have are always big. Anything big must has hierarchy. This is inevitable, because big things need hierarchy and leadership to sustain its stability, and stability can guarantee success. Consequently, hierarchy causes exclusion. Several years ago, a nationwide movement protesting for inequity burst out in New York. The famous Occupy Wall Street movement has a famous and exciting slogan ”We are the 99 percent”. It looks like a just protest for income inequity and wealth distribution for most of the people in the United States. However, the true story is ironic. The leadership of the movement is made up of highly educated people. They graduate from those great education institutions, and they called themselves “the 99 percent”. They were unsatisfied with the inequality, because they could not become “the 1 percent”. Thus, they led the true ”99 percent” to protest. The outcome of this movement was those so-called “99 percent” became “the 1 percent”, and the true “99 percent” went back home and continued their lives as if nothing happened at all. In big things, people who should be included are at the bottom of the hierarchy, and nothing really changes. People may argue that at lease these people’s voices are heard through those big things. But it is not enough to be heard to make a difference. People should make their own decision but not only be heard. The article discusses a lot about how to give equal opportunities to everyone. But I think opportunities that are given will never be equal. Instead, the true equity is people can create their own opportunities. The governors often define themselves as leaders, listeners or helpers. However, these roles are unequal by nature. I think they should be guiders. They should guide people to create their own opportunities. Social entrepreneurship I think can really achieve this goal. Social entrepreneurship makes everyone an entrepreneur, and makes people change their lives with the way they want. Social entrepreneurship is about “small” and “all”. Maybe opening a coffee shop or starting a small business is small to a city, but is big enough to an individual to change his or her own density.

My entire time in Detroit highlights and underscores my favorite quotation by the illustrious poet, Tupac Shakur. He once said, “Reality is wrong, dreams are for real.” I could not agree more with this quotation as it represents the desire all of us have to create a better reality for ourselves and the ones around us. I think that in Detroit this is especially prevalent as many of the young entrepreneurs are dreaming of a better future and this article shows us that. Not only do people want to revive Detroit, but they want to revive it in a way that there is a better sense of opportunity for everyone, no matter if you moved to Detroit, or grew up here.

The article talks interviews five different entrepreneurs living here in Detroit and their takes on how to create better opportunity for all. First, Delphia Simmons calls for resident engagement. While she does not come out and say it, I feel the most important thing about this idea is that you have to empower the residents so that it is not a one sided fight, and instead everyone is on the same team trying to tackle the challenges that are holding them, and the city back. Secondly, Sarida Montgomery calls for small steps to be taken each and every day. She references the public transportation issue and rains truth down when she says that people don’t want to hear how many years it will take to fix it, they want small concrete steps each and everyday. While I wholeheartedly agree, I don’t think that this can be done without Delphia’s ideas about empowering people because no one is willing to do the small things without feeling included in the conversation and empowered. Both of these plans need the soundings of Wayne Ramocan when he talks about effective communication. In any industry, firm, or business, it cannot run with out communication connecting all of their moving parts, and I don’t believe that a city would be able to either. Jessica Williams and Bradford Frost chime in with ideas of Arts-Infused Planning and Inclusive Transformation. While this article lays a great foundation for what needs to happen to create opportunity I feel as if one of the most basic tools to opportunity has been overlooked: Education.

Every idea presented has been great, and can happen while education efforts are going on simultaneously, but all of them rely upon education to work and thrive. I don’t believe it is realistic to expect a city to change, and opportunity to be inclusive if there is a still an education gap among a population’s citizens. The article specifically asks about economic opportunity, and if you have a school system that is failing its citizens, the jobs are always going to go to those who have been better served by their education. There is a reason that each of us in this program are going to Duke, and its not to have a good time. Its to have the backing of a respected institution to add to your creditability. Many would argue that we all had better opportunities than our peers, and in many ways they are right. We all had the opportunity of a good education, and most of us had parents that pushed us to succeed. Along with better education there needs to be an emphasis on education. You cannot expect a teenager, someone who is still figuring out life to know to sit at a desk for 7-8 hours a day and do something they don’t want to do. They need guidance from their elders along with a better education system. The effects of education are astounding. Personally, I have worked with an orphanage in India called Operation Shanti that brings in homeless children and provides them with an education. A particularly telling story is the one of Surya, a young boy who was picked up off the streets and sent to a regular school. At that school he was the top of the class so he was moved to a private government school, he continued to be miles ahead of his peers. After a stint in another school and being the top of his class, he is now at a nationally acclaimed boarding school and still towards the top of his class. His goal in life, to become a doctor and return to Mysore to help those on the streets where he once lived. While Mysore, India and Detroit have many differences, education translates. The kids that are coming up through the system won’t see significant changes in creating opportunity for all without first seeing an emphasis, from their elders, the government, and their peers on education first. I appreciate the ideas that the authors of this article had, but I think it is a little naive to believe that all this will be accomplished without first educating the populace you want these ideas to take affect in. People can rise to incredible heights and do wonderful things without education, but with education I believe you more than double someones chances and far more than double the number of people that will have that chance.